The new variety of red raspberry, Rubus idaeus L., was created in the course of a planned breeding program carried out at Nelson, Motueka, New Zealand. The parents used to make the cross in 1991, were the unpatented selection 86105N26 (seed parent) and unpatented selection 87115ZN2 (pollen parent).
Seed from this cross was grown and the original plant of the new variety was selected during the 1994–95 summer (Southern Hemisphere) and was found to exhibit:                (a) a spine-free upright growth habit of strong vigor,        (b) the ability to form attractive red fruit of good flavor that ripen very early on floricanes and        (c) the ability to form attractive red fruit of good flavor on primocanes late in the season and        (d) resistance to Raspberry Bushy Dwarf Virus (RBDV).        
The new variety was first asexually propagated in 1999, at Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand, being reproduced by vegetative cuttings arising from root cuttings. Cuttings developed this way in spring, root within a 3–4 week propagation period, and thus plants suitable for field planting are then ready in autumn of the same year. The resulting plants propagated true to type, demonstrating that the characteristics of the new variety are stable and are transmitted without change through succeeding generations. Since 2000, ‘Awaroa’ has been asexually propagated in vitro via tissue culture methods. The variety has propagated true to type via these means.